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[0:00] Patrick Oliver Jones: Several episodes ago, I had Hispanic artists share their own stories in Español. All of them were previous guests, except for one, Ceci Trevino. And I'm glad to finally bring her unique story to the podcast. She is the founder and artistic director of Broadway Mania, an organization giving online virtual opportunities to performers, writers, and directors. Some professional, but all of them aspirational. What I'm hoping for them is to have these theater experiences in this group to take that, to feel that void. Because it's really a void that you feel when you're not performing and you long for it. Welcome to Why I'll Never Make It, featuring conversations with fellow artists about the realities of life in the arts.

I'm your host, Patrick Oliver Jones, and your support for the ongoing work of this podcast would be greatly appreciated. Go to whyillnevermakeit.com where you can join the Win Me newsletter and find access to special members-only episodes. Again, that's whyillnevermakeit.com.

[1:44] Patrick Oliver Jones: I could tell there was something special about this group of people. And as I found out more about this organization and their mission of bringing avenues and opportunities to performers around the world, I was truly captivated by their love of theater. While there are some professional artists in the group, many others come from a variety of backgrounds, from technology and teaching to advertising and even the military, each one accomplishing artistic goals and dreams on a virtual stage. And Cecy Trevino is the force behind it all. Founding the group in 2018 as a hodgepodge group of people on a singing app to now a theater company that has just released a YouTube Christmas special and a holiday album.

However, Ceci's personal and professional journey has not been one that should necessarily have led to the formation of such a group. As a native of Monterey, Mexico, her career paths have been wide and varied. And at the heart of it all has been her love of theater, especially musicals.

[2:53] Cecy Treviño: I have always had a passion for musical theater since I was little. I remember the first musical that I saw was Sunny, and I was like, I'm gonna be in the theater, like I'm gonna be that person. As I thought like as if I thought that it was going to be that easy. But no, I have always loved musical theater, and when I was in high school, I began to be in singing lessons, but never musical theater. And then I decided to study psychology. It came to my mind to study music, but in here there's nothing like related to musical theater, like something that you can actually study, like performing arts or something like that. So you have to like, it was just music, it was eight years, and I was like, it's kind of a risky decision, so just gonna go for psychology.

[3:42] Patrick Oliver Jones: Since you thought music was going to be too risky, what led you specifically to psychology?

[3:46] Cecy Treviño: Oof, it was a completely different journey than what I am now because when I began psychology, I wanted to do therapy. That's what I wanted, and I like that career a lot. And while I was in college, we didn't have like such a big arts program, but I kept studying like mostly was singing lessons and a little bit of dance, but everything was separate. And until my last years when I got the chance to do a musical, and it was like the first time that I had been on a stage before, but it was like the first time that I did musical theater. I was like, oh my god, like this is it, like this is what I really really like.

[4:32] Patrick Oliver Jones: And what show was that?

[4:34] Cecy Treviño: It was Hairspray.

[4:35] Patrick Oliver Jones: Oh, okay. Fun show.

[4:36] Cecy Treviño: It was Hairspray, yeah, fun show, very like for college, you know, like everyone loves it, it's a popular one. And in that moment as well, like you asked me, like what musicals do you like? And in that moment, I would have said like Rent and Wicked and Hairspray, like the popular ones, you know, like because I didn't know anything else. And then I began to watch more musicals or to listen to more musicals because we didn't have that much of theater in here in Monterey. We had like the same, the popular shows.

[5:08] Patrick Oliver Jones: And was it mostly touring productions that would come through, or did Monterey actually have some self-producing theaters?

[5:14] Cecy Treviño: No, actually, touring productions is just something new that it began last year.

[5:18] Patrick Oliver Jones: Oh, okay.

[5:19] Cecy Treviño: So everything was local. Like if it was something big, the biggest thing that I remember is when they put the Wicked in Mexico. But that was in Mexico City. But besides that, everything was local. Typically, they were like college.

[5:40] Patrick Oliver Jones: But despite her newfound theater experiences on stage in Hairspray and in the audience, and even though she studied psychology in college, she found work in a different field altogether.

[5:54] Cecy Treviño: I began working in human resources since 2011. That was one year before I graduated. And I realized that I that's what I wanted. Like I love working on a company and I love, I'm a really organized person. I love everything that has to do with learning and development and the career plans and everything. And I just fell in love with it, and that's what I did continue doing.

[6:22] Patrick Oliver Jones: Well, that was until a certain opportunity came her way.

[6:26] Cecy Treviño: The chance to work at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

[6:33] Patrick Oliver Jones: Now, taking such a job would mean having to leave her job in Mexico. But when it comes to Disney, Cecy has pretty strong feelings about it.

[6:44] Cecy Treviño: Oh my god. Well, first of all, I was a huge, still a huge Disney fan. So that was like my first motive. I just like, it was kind of one of my dreams since like I found out that you could actually go and work in there. It was one of my dreams, and I always like, I was like, I want to do it, I want to do it, but I was too scared to leave my career, like to stop my career and go there because I was like, I thought that going there to work in a park, it wasn't going to add anything to my resume here in Mexico when I come back. But the opportunity came, I said, like, okay, you know what? I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna apply for it, and I'm gonna go and whatever happens when I come back, it's just like just happens. But no, it was a great experience, and honestly, you learned so many things from there, like so many things that are really valuable to what I am doing now.

[7:41] Patrick Oliver Jones: So you really had to just leave your job altogether.

[7:44] Cecy Treviño: It was one year, it was one of those international programs.

[7:48] Patrick Oliver Jones: And what exactly was your job there at Epcot?

[7:51] Cecy Treviño: I worked in the Mexican pavilion in the attraction, the Three Caballeros.

[7:57] Patrick Oliver Jones: Moving the boats.

[7:59] Cecy Treviño: And I must say that Epcot is actually my favorite park at Disney World. And the Mexican pavilion is probably my favorite in the World Showcase. The restaurant is so good with beautiful scenery and that relaxing boat ride next to it. But like Ceci said, this job was just for one year. So coming back to Mexico meant she was having to pound the pavement once again for work. And it really shows her tenacity in following opportunities as they come along and not letting obstacles get in the way of what she wants to do.

[8:35] Cecy Treviño: It was 2016, and I actually found a job that was better than the one that I left.

[8:42] Patrick Oliver Jones: Isn't that nice?

[8:43] Cecy Treviño: Yeah, yeah, like that was one of the things that they like. It was like that I had this international experience because what I was doing, I was in the Department of Learning and Development, and I was managing all the trainings in the US, in Colombia, and Mexico. So they wanted like an international person, obviously, like you have to be really fluent in English, but also it had a lot to do with customer service. And well, what better way to learn about that than Disney?

[9:13] Patrick Oliver Jones: Right.

[9:13] Cecy Treviño: So that's when I found out, like, okay, everything can happen in this life. And so you come back, you get this better job than you had before. In that couple of years, 2016 to 2018, what was brewing both in your life and your thoughts as far as what led you to finally put Broadway Mania to reality?

[9:34] Cecy Treviño: I changed jobs, and then I had the opportunity to be for a couple of months in New York, and obviously I was obsessed, like watching a show every week. And it was around 2018, October. I came back and I found out like there was an app that I had it on my phone, but I never used it that you could sing. So obviously I had all the songs in my head, songs that I was never able to sing in New York because there's always too much noise and there's no space and anything. So I was like, oh my god, I haven't sung like in months. I'm really excited about this. And I opened the app and I saw that there were like so many people singing theater songs, and then I saw that people were posting like crazy auditions for this, auditions for that. Then I found out like the auditions were for like virtual covers and recordings that they do in there. So everyone can do an audition and everyone can play, I'm gonna be that director. So I said, like, well, why not? I said, like, why not?

[10:37] Cecy Treviño: And now I think you're starting to see this fire and determination Ceci has, not only for herself and job opportunities and following her own passions, but also in her desire to help others achieve and realize their own dreams and goals. And that's how Broadway Mania began. Obviously, it has been quite a journey because we still use the app for recording audio. Like we are still exploring different things. Our main objective is to have the best quality possible. So whatever is gonna bring us the best quality for now. But I was so overwhelmed and amazed by how many good singers we were finding on that app.

[11:22] Cecy Treviño: And I was like, how come nobody tells you that you're amazing? Like, how come nobody and then sometimes people come to Broadway Mania and say, like, I didn't know if I showed an audition because I didn't know that I was good enough. And I'm like, are you kidding me? Um so yeah, we began finding people on SMUL, and then we opened Instagram and people began opening SMEL accounts so they can audition for our group. We began to have not only a bigger core but professional singers from all over the world. People who was like, what do you need, Sissy? I'm here for you. I can help you. I have time. So then people like one of my closest friends, she now is like our marketing leader. So I was able to start talking with people, and so this began to become bigger.

We have like a huge management team, and that's when we said, like, okay, well, we can do this for real. Right. We can actually like start thinking bigger, you know. So Broadway Mania was chugging along, growing steadily, gaining new voices along the way. And then the pandemic hit. And both artists and other workers no longer had jobs, and our lives were turned upside down. It definitely was a change. We had so many challenges, of course, because people used to record at their hours in their own spaces, and now you have like the house full with people, and you don't have a quiet place. So yeah, it definitely was a challenge. It wasn't that easy, but also it brought us the opportunity to start exploring things like video that we have never done.

We began doing like character development sessions, workshops, and everyone was available because nobody had anything to do because you were in your house. So it's like, what do you have to do on a Friday night? Well, nothing. Okay, well, let's do a Zoom meeting. So sometimes we were doing like two or three things a week, and everyone was available. So it definitely definitely brought us together and definitely made a change for a group. That's basically where we are now, and we are exploring and see, okay, well, what's next, and what can we do different?

[13:35] Patrick Oliver Jones: It sounds like that what began as your own personal love of singing and just wanting to take on these songs from shows that you loved, it then turned into a community of people with that same passion, and now that's what has been the core of your group so far.

[13:52] Cecy Treviño: Yeah, it's for example, today I was posting something on my social media, and I was like, how did I get here? Like, how lucky I am. Like, I can't believe the kind of people and all the talent that we have in this group, um, because how we are making this happen is just unbelievable. It's crazy, like really, really cool. And it's something that I think in real life, when I say real life, like I maybe wouldn't have tried it. Like, I will never have posted auditions or doing anything like in my Instagram because what would my friends think of, or what will people think of like me that I'm inexperienced, and how am I going to direct something? But in there, I was like, okay, well, nobody knows me.

It doesn't like obviously at the beginning now. I post it everywhere and I share it everywhere. And I assume that that's been a journey for you as well, being a director, because that's something that you weren't trained in, you didn't go to school for, but yet your love of musical theater, and so what has that journey been like for you to now direct these singers?

[14:59] Cecy Treviño: Wow, it's it has been definitely quite a journey as well. First of all, I didn't understand a score at all. Like when I open a score, I have a keyboard and I can see the notes and I can play it, but I didn't know if they were like sharp or flat or anything. So let alone like know what is a soprano and outdoor and whatever. And that's one of the things that I'm still learning, but I can say like I can read a score right now, and I'm really proud of that. And many things also about like singing that I didn't understand before from the point of view of director, in the side of like get people so they can get into the characters, like help people so they can get into the character, especially when they are recording from their home and when they are recording a part and they don't have the other person in front of them.

Right. And sometimes they don't even have like they have to record audio and they are not hearing the other person, so it's really challenging and also something that I always say on auditions is like we do video but almost all the time we only do audio. So I always tell them that it's not only how the character needs to feel but how me as a listener what do I need to feel when I listen to the song and I tell them because sometimes in live theater or in video it's really easy to see your expression and to know that you are sad. But when you are hearing only audio it's quite challenging vocally everyone is amazing. Vocally everyone is really great. So I'm really thankful for that but it has like I think major challenge it was direct people who have experience in theater.

[16:42] Cecy Treviño: Those that may have more experience than you, yeah. Yeah, yeah, and not only about directing them but getting them to trust me and to respect me as a director to say like I trust what the directions that you are saying. It's not like oh no but in real theater we I do this differently you know right I have been really lucky with the people that I have had because honestly, I feel really comfortable with the group and nobody has ever made me feel bad for not having experience so that I think it's what gave me confidence to say like okay I can do this.

[17:18] Patrick Oliver Jones: And what would you say are like the one or two biggest things that you've learned as a director that maybe you didn't know at first but now you feel more comfortable directing?

[17:18] Cecy Treviño: My ear. You have to have a director ear. When I have people asking me like if they can direct in Broadway Mania, I have always have like a good ear, but definitely, definitely now is it's better. So um I it's just amazing. Before when I listened to songs, I was like, wow, how I didn't identify that this is like so out of pitch, or these harmonies start clashing, or things like that. And it's definitely something that you acquire with experience. So that's one of the things. When I had training in Mexico about singing, and I used to use like my chest voice and your head voice, but I honestly I didn't know the term belting, and it's another thing that I feel that is one of my greatest accomplishments: the vocal techniques to understand a little bit more about the vocal technique to learn how to belt, because I don't coach them vocally, but I have to tell them what I'm expecting vocally from them in the songs.

So, how like how do you need to express and how much power do you need to give and everything? And sometimes it was really hard for me, like listening only audio without seeing them to see like what technique they are they were using, and now I feel way more confident with that.

[18:43] Cecy Treviño: With the people that come into the group and those that are already in the group, what do you hope they take away from being a part of this community?

[18:52] Cecy Treviño: Well, I think there are like two things. One is most of the people that they are here because they want to do something that they cannot do in live theater physically, so either because they want to play a role or they want to sing a song that in live theater they couldn't because they cannot dance, or because, like, for example, they want to play a teenage character, and they can do the voice, but they don't have like the looks right now, so things like that. Um, and there are also people who have never been in theater, but it's their passion, and what I'm hoping for them is to have this theater experience in this group to take that to fill that void because it's really a void that you feel when you're not performing and you long for it and to fulfill that part and also something else is like I think I always say to people I learn something new that you haven't learned because it's always experiences and it's not only about singing or about performing better but there's like right now we have a leading team of nine people and I have other people who are directing and some people have never done this like some people haven't ever directed or have never managed people or um have a full marketing campaign etc and they're doing it now so it's basically that's really amazing to learn something new and something that you can take to your resume maybe your resume or maybe you to add it to your experience and this is what I love about Broadway Mania whereas most theater companies are about the audience of about making money and can at times just be a vanity project for the directors and producers.

[20:51] Cecy Treviño: Delegating responsibilities and giving everyone a chance to learn new skills and grow as an artist each and every one of the members of Broadway Mania is a star and is given every opportunity to shine. And I actually want to give you a chance to meet some of these stars. So, in place of a Final Five episode this week, you will be able to see and hear the virtual red carpet interviews for Broadway Mania's holiday special. I speak with members of the company as well as the directors of the event. I am so thankful that SECI and the entire Broadway Mania Company welcomed me into their fold and let me take part in this beautifully produced presentation. Links to the holiday special and their GoFundMe page can be found in the show notes.

[21:59] Patrick Oliver Jones: Dylan Adams is the booking producer. Now I'm on the hunt for a production assistant, so reach out to me if you or someone you know would be interested at why I'll never make it at gmail.com. Music in this episode provided by Blue Dot Sessions and Vortex. This podcast is part of the Helium Radio Network and is a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance. Thank you so much for spending your time here today, and join me next time as we talk more about Why I'll Never Make It.